Everything Coming to Netflix for the 2021 Holiday Season

You can always count on Netflix to get you into the holiday spirit.

vanessa hudgens in princess switch 3
Untitled Lindsay Lohan and Chord Overstreet rom-com | Scott Everett White/Netflix
Untitled Lindsay Lohan and Chord Overstreet rom-com | Scott Everett White/Netflix

When the holidays roll around, you can always count on Netflix to provide all of the yuletide, seasons greetings, good tidings, etc. by releasing a slate of new holiday movies and series. This year is no different, with a handful of titles—some perfect for family viewing, some straight out of the Hallmark rom-com playbook, and some sequels to hits from Christmases past—coming out throughout November and December. So, prepare a cup of peppermint hot cocoa, roast some chestnuts over the fire, and cozy up on the couch, because here's all of the new titles coming to Netflix that you can watch this season once you're throw revisiting your favorite Christmas classics.

For even more holiday viewing, check out our round up of every holiday special coming to TV and other streaming services besides Netflix here.

nina dobrev and jimmy o'yang in love hard
'Love Hard' | Bettina Strauss/Netflix

The Claus Family (available 11/1)

Netflix doesn't wait a second to ring in the season. The streaming service launches its 2021 holiday slate as early as possible with the release of this movie. In it, a boy named Jules Claus discovers he's actually of the Clauses and his toy-making grandfather is Santa himself (which maybe should've been a no-brainer). Despite hating the holidays himself, it's up to him to save the holiday when gramps falls ill.

Love Hard (available 11/5)

How an internet-literate young person could still get catfished in this day and age is unclear, but, whatever, this is a Netflix holiday rom-com! Nina Dobrev stars in Love Hard as a woman who travels across the country to spend the holidays with a man she's only talked to on a dating app, only to find out she was catfished by his childhood friend (Jimmy O'Yang).
(Watch the trailer)

kelsey grammar in father christmas is back
'Father Christmas Is Back' | Netflix

Father Christmas Is Back (available 11/7)

Oh, the drama that ensues when a distant relative comes home for the holidays. That's exactly what happens in this movie when an absent dad played by Kelsey Grammar tries to reconnect with his four adult daughters around Christmas. Of course, festivities are held at their "posh ancestral manor" because where else would they be?

Christmas Flow (available 11/17)

If you're over holiday movies and want to tune into a holiday series, Christmas Flow is the first one of the season on Netflix. The French rom-com show follows the unlikely romance that blossoms between a driven journalist and a rapper around Christmastime. So, it's holiday-themed just because.
(Watch the trailer)

Queen Margaret princess switch, vanessa hudgens in princess switch 3
'The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star' | Mark Mainz/Netflix

It's not really the holiday season until Vanessa Hudgens, Vanessa Hudgens, and Vanessa Hudgens return to grace Netflix! The actress and her many doubles are back in a third movie in this goofy Netflix film franchise. This time around, the lookalikes are planning a heist to get back a precious princess relic that was stolen.
(Watch the trailer)

Blown Away Christmas (available 11/19)

Of course some of Netflix's crafty reality shows are returning with holiday specials. This one about talented glass blowers brings a handful of fan-favorite contestants back to compete in themed challenges in order to win a cash prize and a prize to donate to their charity of choice.
(Watch the trailer)

Waffles + Mochi's Holiday Feast (available 11/23)

Time to take another trip to the Land of Frozen Food! Michelle Obama's sweet children's cooking show that premiered earlier this year returns with a holiday special. This time around, Waffles and Mochi want to throw a celebration for what they call "Freezie Day" and make a feast for their friends to enjoy.
(Watch the teaser)

Henry Lawfull in a boy called christmas
'A Boy Called Christmas' | Netflix

A Boy Called Christmas (available 11/24)

Matt Haig's beloved children's book of the same is getting a whimsical adaptation. The adventure tale finds a boy named Nikolas on a snowy quest to find his long-lost father, who's said to be in the fantastical elf village known as Elfhelm. The cast is led by the likes of Maggie Smith, Sally Hawkins, Kristen Wiig, and others.
(Watch the trailer)

Robin Robin (available 11/24)

What's the holidays without a little bit of stop-motion? This film comes from the Aardman Animation, the British animation studio behind franchises like Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, and follows the journey of a little birdie who sets out to discover her birth parents after being raised by a family of mice when her egg rolled from her nest into theirs years ago. Gillian Anderson and Richard E. Grant are among the voice cast.
(Watch the trailer)

cary elwes and brooke shields in a castle for christmas
'A Castle For Christmas' | Mark Mainz/Netflix

A Castle For Christmas (available 11/26)

It's the moment you've been waiting for: the season's cheesiest, most star-studded new movie of the year. A Castle For Christmas pulls a handful of typical character and plot points out of the holiday movie grab bag to see a relationship unfold between an American author (Brooke Shields) and a Scottish castle owner (Cary Elwes) when the writer tries to buy the castle off him for the holidays. Expect to see more tartan than you could've ever dreamed of.
(Watch the trailer)

School of Chocolate (available 11/26)

Don't watch this one on an empty stomach. The series brings eight talented pastry chefs to the School of Chocolate where they get the opportunity to improve their skills in lessons taught by world-renowned chocolatier Amaury Guichon.
(Watch the trailer)

Elves (available 11/28)

Forget about the cute cobbling elves from Santa's workshop. They're nothing like the ones in this Danish series. Here, they are very much real, but they're also very fierce deities to a strict religious community in the Danish archipelago. When a family travels there and their daughter takes an elf home, it's not a quirky, little conundrum that ensues—according to Netflix, it's a "life or death" battle and fight for survival. So, not your typical Christmas special.
(Watch the trailer)

Philemon Chambers and Michael Urie in single all the way
'Single All the Way' | Philippe Bosse/Netflix

Single All the Way (available 12/2)

That punny title! Netflix has a queer holiday film sliding down the chimney. In Single All the Way, a Christmastime conundrum unfolds when a young man requests his best friend pretend to be his boyfriend over the holidays, only to go home and find out his mother (Kathy Najimy) has set him up on a blind date. The hilarious Jennifer Coolidge also stars.
(Watch the trailer)

The Great British Baking Show: Holidays, Season 4 (available 12/3)

Will Paul Hollywood be a Grinch on this season of GBBS' holiday special? We'll find out, as the show reunites fan favorites from past seasons to make cake pops, canapés, and more.
(Watch the trailer)

Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas (available 12/3)

Everybody's favorite sheep is back in a new adventure, as he tries to find his dear friend Timmy, who was taken during a farmhouse raid, and get him home in time for the holidays.
(Watch the trailer)

david and the elves
'David and the Elves' | Netflix

David and the Elves (available 12/6)

When a young boy's parents are too engrossed in work to get into the seasonal spirit, Christmas magic manages to find him when he meets an elf who escaped from Santa's workshop and leads him on a journey into the snowy Scandinavian mountains.

Carolin Kebekus: The Last Christmas Special (available 12/8)

As merry and bright as the holiday season is, it can also be somewhat of a headache. German comedian Carolin Kebekus jokes about all of those things that can turn you into a scrooge this time of year in this comedy special, from holiday party hangovers to anxieties around gift giving.
(Watch the trailer)

How To Ruin Christmas, Season 2 (available 12/10)

Netflix's South African holiday series is back for more yuletide gatherings and laughs. The next installment will continue to follow the romance of the lovable couple, Tumi and Khaya.
(Watch the trailer)

lauren and josh swickard in a california christmas city lights
'A California Christmas: City Lights' | Netflix

A California Christmas: City Lights (available 12/16)

Netflix has a lot of Hallmark-y Christmas movies, but not all of them warrant a sequel. Apparently, A California Christmas—about the love story between Callie and Joseph at a gorgeous winery—does. Their romance is really put to the test here, as Joseph's called back to the big city from his charming rustic life to deal with family business affairs.

A Naija Christmas (available 12/16)

Hailing from Nigeria, this comedy focuses on three siblings who scramble to find dates—and eventually brides—to bring home in order to fulfill their mother's greatest Christmas wish that they'll be married by the holiday.
(Watch the teaser)

Grumpy Christmas (available 12/22)

A follow-up to the 2016 Mexican comedy The Patriarch, about a cranky 85 year old who's expelled from his senior living center and forced to move in with his estranged son. In the sequel, they travel to celebrate Christmas with extended family, and everybody ends up butting heads.

tamar novas in 1000 miles from christmas
'1000 Miles From Christmas' | ANDRES PADUANO/NETFLIX

1000 Miles From Christmas (available 12/24)

A man who despises Christmas is sent by his boss to audit a factory known for making a traditional treat in town that's devoted to the holiday. When he ends up lodging with a lovely teacher whose goal it is to craft the largest-ever nativity scene (and he inevitably learns the real meaning of the holiday), his business plans become especially challenging in this Spanish rom-com.

Untitled Lindsay Lohan movie (available TBA)

Yes friends, this is no joke: Netflix is bringing us the ultimately Christmas present in the form of a holiday rom-com starring none other than Lindsay Lohan as a freshly engaged and spoiled hotel heiress who, after an unfortunate skiing accident, suffers from amnesia and recovers in the care of a blue-collar lodge owner (Chord Overstreet) and his precocious daughter. Obviously, that wedding is not gonna happen as planned.

Want more Thrillist? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat.

Sadie Bell is the entertainment associate editor at Thrillist. She's on Twitter and Instagram.